Holy Blues

Holy Blues

    “My roots are in the blues,

      the holy blues.”  - Alvin Ailey

Mama -- got the blues,

The holy blues;

The singin’, dancin’, drummin’

Holy blues.

My skin is dark and shinin’.

My heart is big and brave.

And tho’ my life is one long hell

I’ll take down to my grave,

I’ll dance and swing

The whole night through

‘Til birds begin to sing;

And when I die,

Just let me lie

While the saints blow holy blues.

              © Peg Latham, 2010

B. B. King, Live in Hamburg, November, 1971
Photo by Heinrich Klaffs
from Wikimedia Commons

Misperception

I smile as I look at you from a distance

still standing on the fence post – motionless.

I gave you such life –

named you Hawk and

endowed you with beauty and

even spoke to you of it.

I watched you not moving thorough

downpours and wind.

I brought you into my meditation and

allowed you to endow me with

groundedness, unwavering motionlessness

and persistence.

I took your archetype as a power animal

who would lend me powerful wings

and keen vision.

My friend still laughs about

my telling her not to disturb you

on her walk and make you fly -

so then perhaps our other friend 

coming later in the day

would still be able to see you –

after all, you had been there for hours! 

She got close enough to see

that you were just a wooden Owl

nailed to a fence post!

What else am I not looking at

closely enough to cause me

to harbor misperceptions?!?

© Diane Harner

Carved owl at Prestbury railroad station, Cheshire, UK
Photo by Danny Molyneux
from Wikimedia Commons